


TSPANFF

by iffiness



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Female Tony Stark, Gen, Rule 63, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iffiness/pseuds/iffiness
Summary: May was calling Toni to come help Peter and his friend with their homework. Homework. Robotics homework, which yeah, she could see why May would think of her for that, but it was still escaping her as to why she had to come help. The only reason she even decided to go was because she had literally nothing else to do all day since A.) the Avengers were still all fucking off playing at being internationally wanted criminal vigilantes, B.) the government didn’t do shit on Sundays so she couldn’t bug Ross like she had for the last two months, and C.) she owed May at least five thousand favors, as the woman had so blatantly put it, and it was about time she cashed in on one.





	TSPANFF

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I wrote this ages ago, because I was in the mood for bending Tony's gender and also for some tooth rotting ironfam fluff, and this was the product of it. There's no more after this I'm afraid, but it makes me smile when I read it so I'm sharing it with y'all! Enjoy. :)

The old wooden door of the shoddy apartment she’d only been two a couple of times before opened in front of her, revealing a  _ very  _ exasperated looking (though she was also stupidly, unfairly attractive) aunt. Toni offered her best, warmest smile at the woman, offering one of the two coffees she currently held. They were stupidly expensive. She hoped it would serve well as a peace offering, and considering the other woman took it with no hesitation as she opened the door wider for Toni to go in, she figured it was as good as it would get. 

 

And why the hell was she offering peace anyway? May had called her here. Not the other way around. And she was  _ certain _ she’d done nothing to deserve her ire this time. Not since Pete managed to let his little secret slip, and decided to try to drag Toni down with him. Little asshole. She and May had to have  _ several  _ expensive lunch dates to make up for it. And May made sure to order everything she absolutely could, just because she knew Toni could afford it while she got the bitching out of a lifetime for helping Peter hide his identity from his aunt. Those were several hours she’d never get back. She’d never been so thoroughly told off before. She was almost in love with May for it, to be honest.

 

Which was why she was thoroughly surprised to receive a phone call from May at 7AM on a  _ Sunday _ asking her to come over to their home as soon as possible. Toni’s first thoughts had jumped to the kid, but a quick check showed that he hadn’t even used the suit last night. He’d stayed in one spot all night, at home, and it took May three tries at explaining why she was calling before Toni really got it. It didn't help that Toni was running on fumes by that point, having been avoiding sleep and food for a couple of days.

 

May was calling  _ Toni _ to come help Peter and his friend with their homework.  _ Homework _ . Robotics homework, which yeah, she could see why May would think of her for that, but it was still escaping her as to why she had to come help. The only reason she even decided to go was because she had literally nothing else to do all day since A.) the Avengers were still all fucking off playing at being internationally wanted criminal vigilantes, B.) the government didn’t do shit on Sundays so she couldn’t bug Ross like she had for the last two months, and C.) she owed May at least five thousand favors, as the woman had so blatantly put it, and it was about time she cashed in on one. 

 

Walking into the apartment was met by an unexpected silence. The place was still well-kept and looked more lived in than any mansion Toni had ever grown up in with her parents, with sentimental things and photos everywhere, but other than the quiet chatter of some random news station on TV there were no other noises. 

 

“Where’s Pete?” Toni finally asked, following after May toward the kitchen. She didn’t really want to wander freely around the place. She also felt crazily overdressed, considering May just had on a pair of sweats and a tantalizing cami, her feet bare and hair thrown up into a messy bun. Toni, on the contrary, was still wearing the same expensive Armani that Pepper had made her wear for the board meeting the previous evening. It wasn’t like May had told her there was a dress code for this though, so she would just have to suck it up and deal with feeling out of place. Nothing new there. 

 

“It’s  _ eight in the morning _ , Ms. Stark,” May spoke not unkindly, but sounded more than a little exasperated as she started rummaging around in the fridge. “They’re teenage boys. We’ll be lucky if they get up before ten. They were up half the night watching  _ Star Wars _ .”

 

“I thought they had this project to work on?” Toni couldn’t help the confusion. They’d watched movies instead of working on something they had a deadline on? Sure, back in her youth, she’d done some stupid shit, but she always got things done on time. With time to spare, even. 

 

“They got frustrated so I made them put it away for the night,” May supplied easily, apparently finding nothing she wanted in the fridge. “It’s not healthy for them to stress out over something like that so much.” 

 

Toni’s brows raised at that, but she decided it would be wise to just not comment. It was nice to know that someone was looking out for Peter like that, especially when all it did was make her consider how far Howard had always pushed her without allowing breaks. It was a tough life, but it got her to where she was now. She didn't want that kind of life for Peter though. “Want me to order some food?” she asked instead, smiling as May lit up at the offer. “I can have it delivered if you know what the boys would want.” 

 

That led to the most extensive, confusing list of breakfast foods Toni had ever seen, but she gave it to Friday anyway and left it at that. Of course she knew teenage boys could eat a horse, and in Peter’s case? He could put Steve Rogers to shame with how much he could eat. It was a wonder May managed to keep food in the place at all. 

 

They eventually migrated to the living room, Toni now shoeless at May’s insistence. The chaos that awaited them there made her chest swell in what she could  _ almost _ call pride. It was an absolute clusterfuck of different parts and papers, all of which she could see the scribbles of two sleepy teenage boys all over. 

 

“This the project?” Toni asked as she sat her cup down on a part of the coffee table that wasn’t covered, exchanging it for one of the multiple blueprints there. It wasn’t overly complicated, but it was good. A solid base, at the least. 

 

May had taken a seat leaned against the arm of the couch, watching as Toni sifted through the papers. “That’s the one. That advanced robotics course of theirs is gonna kill them. Half their grade relies on this thing.” 

 

Toni couldn’t help but to laugh at that, unbuttoning her blazer and tossing it onto the opposite arm of the couch. “Oh, it’ll only get worse from here,” she supplied readily, sliding down onto the couch and then further onto the floor, her legs spread out under the coffee table. This position would be much easier to reach everything in. “I was already in my second year of MIT at their age. Most of those classes had a single project that counted as the whole grade, and fuck if that wasn’t stressful to do in between block parties, mom’s galas, and Howard’s pushing for more weapon ideas. I think half the time I was riding on some god awful combo of adderall and caffeine, to be honest.” 

 

“That hardly sounds healthy,” May spoke up from where she sat, but it didn’t sound too patronizing. It just sounded  _ awfully close _ to pity. Toni didn’t like it. They were  _ bonding _ and it was weird.

 

“C’est la vie,” she hummed absently, shuffling off some of the unnecessary papers to the floor with the rest. She had more than enough of an idea of what the two were going for to draw them up some real blueprints. “So, think they’ll be mad if I draft a couple things without them? Pretty sure we can keep it basic enough that it’s not suspicious, but awesome enough that literally everyone else will be super jealous of them. They already had a few good ideas going on here.” 

 

At May’s insistence that they probably wouldn’t mind the two women settled into a quiet companionship. May flicked through TV channels while Toni drew up a few sketches, and neither of them moved until the knock on the door a half hour later. May got up quickly to fetch the food, spreading it out on the dinner table they had before she went to go try to wake the teenagers. 

 

It took a solid ten minutes, but soon enough Toni heard the three of them heading back toward the room over the sounds of her sketching. 

 

“Whoa, May,” Peter was the first of them to speak, apparently entranced by the food options he was just seeing for the first time. “Where’d this come from?”

 

“Are those donuts?” another young, male voice spoke up next, and Toni grinned as she heard the quick shuffling toward the food. That had to be the “guy in the chair” Peter had told her about a few times. 

 

It was a good a time as any for Toni to reveal she was here, since May apparently hadn’t. She slowly dragged herself up off the floor, grimacing as her joints protested. She was getting so old. Her body hated her for all the fights she’d been in, but since she’d decided to look out for Spider-Man in her spare time she was sure she’d aged about fifteen more years. It was an awful combination.

 

Lucky for her, the two boys had their backs to her at the table as they dug in. May was watching her from across from them, her eyes twinkling with mischief that Toni could respect. She loved doing this kind of thing, and if May did too? Well, maybe their working relationship wasn’t as doomed as Toni had thought it was. 

 

“And I don’t even get a thank you,” Toni drawled out as she approached, languidly trudging toward them, her grin growing even wider as Peter all but jumped onto the ceiling. The other kid had turned around so fast she was sure he’d hurt his neck, but the way his eyes bulged was almost as hilarious as Peter’s look of shock.

 

“Ms. Stark!” Peter finally managed to squeak out, up and out of his seat in the blink of an eye. He looked all kinds of unkempt and totally off guard, his hair sticking up in places and the oddly familiar  _ I Survived My Trip to New York _ shirt hang off his gangly frame over a pair of Star Wars sleep pants. “I-I, uh hey! Hey, Ms. Stark, good morning! Why’re you here? Is everything okay? Is it a mission? Are the Avengers back?”

 

Toni laughed at that, placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him back to the table and directing him back into his seat. She moved around to take the seat beside May after she did, looking across at the two star-struck, suddenly hyper boys with a raised brow. “Oh, yes, there is definitely a mission,” she finally drawled out, leaning back against the chair and crossing her arms. 

 

“ _ OhmygodPeterwhyisToniStarkhereareyouforrealthisissocool!” _ Ned finally seemed to wake up out of his stupor, and Toni was thoroughly surprised that he seemed to be able to talk even faster than Peter could.

 

“ _ Breathe _ , Ned,” Toni’s grin died off into a fond smile as the kid’s eyes grew impossibly wider, just because she knew his name. 

 

“ _ Shuddup, Ned! _ ” Peter bit out, though he sounded more embarrassed than anything. “Don’t, uh, ignore him, Ms. Stark, I just gotta go get the suit and I can--”

 

“Nu-uh,” May chided, speaking up for the first time and pointing her fork at him. “You stay right where you are.”

 

Peter looking to Toni for permission to get up and put on the suit was oddly satisfying, but still not gonna happen. She’d gotten on May’s bad side already. “No need for the suit, Pete. This mission’s a little closer to home. Codename: TSPANFF.”

 

“TSPANFF?” Peter repeated, the confusion clear on his face. Toni was just surprised the two were so full of energy to have just been asleep not long ago. The wonders of being young.

 

“Mmhmm,” Toni grinned again, tugging her phone out of her pocket to check the emails she’d received since showing up. “ _ Toni saves Peter and Ned from failing _ . Name’s a work in progress. Your advanced robotics course though. What’s up with that? Looks like you’ve had this project assigned since the beginning of the semester and you’re only  _ just _ starting it? I seem to recall a little spider telling me he was  _ definitely  _ responsible enough to balance school and web-slinging.”

 

“Wha-?” Peter squeaked out again, Toni grinning again as his voice hit a new octave. Part of her hoped he never left the puberty stage. “No, no, Ms. Stark. I got it under control. Really. Seriously. Ned and I were working all night on it, right, Ned?” A well placed elbow into the other kid’s side had him nodding along eagerly, still staring wide eyed at her.

 

So Pete wanted to play that game? She was the master. He had a lot to learn. 

 

Her attention turned fully to Ned, leveling her dark eyes on the kid with the same intensity she would a grown man at a board meeting or a particularly difficult project in her workshop. The smile never left her face as she did, pleasantly charming and all business. “Toni Stark,” she formally introduced herself, reaching a hand across the table to shake. Ned met her eagerly halfway, and Toni pointedly ignored the glaze his hand left on hers as she pulled away and covertly wiped it off under the table on her pants. “Peter’s told me a lot about you. His man in the chair, right?”

 

“Uh, y-yeah,” Ned nodded, glancing away from Toni to Peter quickly. She wasn't surprised. Not many people could hold her eyes that long with this look on her face. “It's a real honor to meet you, Ms. Stark. Really. You're like my favorite Avenger.”

 

Toni nodded at that, leaning forward to place her elbow strategically on the table and resting her chin in her hand. “The feeling is mutual,” She smiled at him sweetly, sparing just a glance to Peter, who was watching intently. She'd never done this around him before, which was why she knew it would work. He didn't know how to stop it yet. “Now, Ned. You and me are pretty similar, I feel like. If I were to ask what you were  _ really  _ doing last night, would you honestly say it was working on your project?”

 

The poor kid’s head was shaking no before he even realized he was doing it. Peter's indignant cry was the only thing that actually stopped him from speaking. 

 

“That's not  _ fair!  _ You used your serious voice. That's cheating,” Peter accused her, pout visible on his face as Ned came to the realization he'd been played. His groan was as audible as Peter's shame. 

 

“Then don't lie to me, kid. I'm on your side here. How are we gonna work together if you can't even give it to me straight?” 

 

“Work together?” came the chorus of responses from both boys, making Toni smile widely. This was gonna be fun. It would be good for her. She'd barely gone anywhere other than the Pentagon, her lab, the SI board room, and rarely, her own bedroom in so long that she'd almost forgotten what it felt like to do this. To just exist and be Toni Stark, genius billionaire. It would be a welcome respite from the onslaught of shit she'd been caught up in with the aftermath of the Civil War. Maybe, just for a few hours, she could let herself forget all of that.

 

“I already did some drafts improving on the wiring concept you had. It wasn't bad, but it would've snapped once the arm reached up and got too taut. You gotta give it some slack in there and compensate for it elsewhere. And I think, if you play your cards right, we can make it fly. One of you had the rough concept drawn up already. But I am  _ not _ doing all the work for you. I'm just… consulting. And you should be honored. I used to charge SHIELD out the ass for this every other Thursday. All I'm charging you is for a promise to be  _ honest  _ with me from here out. About everything. After school activities included. Deal?”

 

To her left she could practically feel May’s delight at what she was doing and the effectiveness of it. Despite their differences and rocky relationship the two of them just wanted to keep Peter safe. It was a mutual connection between them that was stronger than any friendship they could've tried to build on their own. 

 

For their part, Peter and Ned did their best at pretending to really consider the deal. They had a heated whisper argument behind cupped hands for a couple of minutes, Toni watching on with a raised eyebrow. It was ridiculously dramatic. Maybe her youth was coming back to bite her in the ass. 

 

“We agree to your terms, but,” Ned was the first to speak, looking at Toni and trying his damndest to look like a little proper businessman across from her. He was even trying to copy what she'd done before by leaning his elbow on the table. 

 

“But,” Peter picked up for him, not trying nearly as hard but looking much more in his element doing it, “You gotta show us your lab. Like, the real one.”

 

Her eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline at his words, shooting a sidelong glance at May. She was trying and failing to hide her amused smile behind her hand. “I'm sorry?” Toni began pleasantly, returning her gaze to the two boys. “Are you trying to  _ negotiate terms  _ with me? Is my help with your very important project not good enough for you?”

 

“No, it is!” Peter exclaimed, suddenly leaping to his feet and looking much more bashful than he had when he tried to play business with her. Toni hated the switch up. Confidence was a good look for him. “Sorry, Ms. Stark, we didn't mean anything by it, we were just curious y’know, cause it's  _ your lab.  _ Like, some of the coolest tech comes outta there. It's gotta be awesome.”

 

Toni huffed at that, fiddling with her phone and leaving him momentarily hanging. She was definitely not clearing her schedule Tuesday afternoon to have them come visit.  _ Absolutely  _ wasn't clearing it.

 

Once she'd put in her new agenda, because yeah, she was into the idea even though she was giving them a hard time, she stood up too. “I've negotiated with gods. Terrorists. Aliens. Captain America, sentient squids,” she began listing off the people she'd had to bargain with before on one hand, just for extra drama. “And you two sit here, looking all the world  _ emboldened _ in all your teenage years and try to negotiate terms with me?” She left the pause up in the air for only a few seconds, long enough for each of the boys to look both intrigued and ashamed, before breaking into a grin. “That's ballsy. Work on the execution more and you guys might give me a run for my money.”

 

The sudden relief rolling off them was palpable and Toni couldn't help but to laugh. She was difficult to read and understand. She was well aware of how awkward it could be for those who haven't had much time around her. With luck, by the end of the day, they'd be much more comfortable with her and her games. “God. I wish I had taken a picture of your faces. That was  _ perfect _ .” 

  
  
  
  



End file.
